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Sometimes you’ve got to win with defense. Sometimes maybe you can win with your offense. I thought tonight was a night that was a little disjointed I think for both teams. But defensively I thought we did a really nice job holding them to 32% from the floor and 25% from three. Maybe our best defense came from the free throw line, we held them to fifth percent. We defended the heck out of that free throw line. It wasn‘t pretty in a lot of ways. We had a lot of mistakes. Too many mistakes, for that matter. Defensively, I thought we were good. I thought we followed the game plan. We did what we set out to do: trying to switch screens and trying to keep them in front of us…. I thought we did a really good job of that.”

On the offense

“We felt we had an advantage inside. The game plan had to be inside. They’ve lost big guys. They’re having to play small. The big kid inside is 6-9 but he’s not very heavy, and their other guy is 6-7. We intended to go inside and didn’t think they could stop us. I thought we could have done a better job with [David] Kravish and getting him some better touches inside. When Richard gets tuned into rebounding the ball he’s a very good rebounder, as is David. The one thing I would have liked to do better was run the break. Knowing that we could probably get the ball off the glass, to be able to outlet it and run off the break. I thought Ricky’s three point play was really big. It made a big difference at that point in the game.”

On Richard Solomon

“When we did get beat at point-of-attack both Richard and David are both pretty good shot blockers or at least they can change shots. We’ve been trying to work on the rotation so they don’t draw a kick. Richard is a senior and fourth-year guy. He certainly has the ability to do all of those things.”

“I think Allen [Crabbe] had something to do with Richard [Solomon] becoming used to his role as a post player. I think Crabbe told him to get in there and do what you do and that’s how you’ll get to the next level. That’s where you’re going to make your money and have a chance. He’s been pretty effective. He’s a little concerned in that he felt that after the scratched eye he wasn’t playing as well as he had been up to that point. I wouldn’t disagree with that. He was in a rhythm. Hopefully tonight is a start back to where he was.”

On the rotation

“We played seven guys in pretty tight rotation. Kameron [Rooks] and Sam [Singer] got some time tonight. I don’t know what the answer is… I want people to be able to thrive in the role that they’re in. I think sometimes there’s a bunch of us who think the game is about scoring as compared to all of the other things: rebounding, defending…. We’ve got to get to that mindset and let the offense take care of itself…. I don’t want anybody to be concerned about that whole thing. It’s got to be about our team and trying to find the best solution and the best rotation patter to be successful.”

On Ricky Kreklow

“Ricky is a smart player. He knows how to play. He’s an experienced guy. I’m really happy that he’s healthy finally and he can get out and play. Sometimes I think that there are shots he could make that he passes on. From our standpoint, to have four points, 11 assists, and a good defensive game, that’s what he needs to do. Some guys are capable of scoring a little bit more and other guys are capable of defending a little better, and some rebound. Everybody has a role. You don’t need all chiefs. We need some Indians to get in there and do that dirty work.”

California Players

Richard Soloman, Senior Forward

On opening the game

"Yeah, it was pretty good. It was just starting the game playing more defense. Trying to get out in transition and trying to get stops first. I think when you focus on defense, the offense just comes”

On playing down in the post

“I was just trying to take my time and make the right play. I knew that they weren't as big down low in the post, so coach wanted us to go down to me and David and just see if we could take advantage of that. I think that the biggest thing, when I catch the ball down low; I’m not just looking to score. I’m looking to make the right play. I’m under control and I’m not rushing anything. I’m trying to draw double teams so I can get the perimeter guys the ball. Like this guy right here, to knock down those bombs like he was dropping today

On the ups and downs of playing the post

"I think it's just growing up, becoming more mature, learning what you can do, what you can't do. It's just a big part of growing up. You just realize the things you were once able to do; now you can't do it any more. The biggest thing is just maturing in my game. I worked on my game a lot. I'm a lot more patient. I’m calm and under control."

Ricky Kreklow, Junior Guard

About the ragged-ness of the offensive game

"You can kind of tell, more so offensively. Nothing feels like there’s a lot of rhythm. It's pretty choppy. ... There were spurts where we would get back on rhythm, but it was one of those games where it was going to be tough to do so. It’s better to win ugly than to win pretty. It was good that we had the big guys to go down low to just for more reliable, high percentage shots. Even David [Kravish], 3-for-8 is not a bad percentage.... It's something we can go to and it's reliable. Richard [Solomon] 7-for-9. It's nice in a game like this when, especially from guard play that things aren't as smooth, to just be able to stop and find your post guys down low.''

On having confidence in Solomon’s ability to finish

"A big part of our offense is finding out bigs down low. We want to build it inside out early. Just to see the ball go through the hoop a few times instead of starting with jumpers. It gives everyone confidence."

Fresno State Head Coach Rodney Terry

On the game

“Well I definitely thought we made some strides defensively, we worked on that all week. I said to the guys a little while ago that in order to be a quality opponent and a good team on the road, you can’t leave those fifty-fifty balls out there. That was the one area we lost the game in term of. We gave up way too many fifty-fifty balls, they came up with all those balls, Cal broke our backs to keep possessions, and we’ve got to make our free throws. Free throws were very critical tonight and we left some of those on the board that we have to try to make. “

On Alex Davis guarding Richard Solomon

“[Richard] Solomon has really grown as a player. I have been watching his play since he was in high school and he has really really improved. He is an active, strong, Pac-12 player. I do think that Alex did a pretty good job in terms of standing between himself and the basket. I thought he did a fairly good job of trying to keep him off the glass.”